NFL: Return to Pittsburgh has McCoy excited

Philadelphia Eagles' LeSean McCoy drives against the New York Giants during an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 30, 2012, in Philadelphia. The Eagles won 19-17. (AP Photo/The Wilmington News-Journal, Suchat Pederson)

PHILADELPHIA — What better weapon to focus on in a renewal of the NFL’s Pennsylvania rivalry than the keystone player of the Eagles’ offense?

Running back LeSean McCoy, Harrisburg born and raised, educated at the capitol city’s Bishop McDevitt High and well-seasoned at the University of Pittsburgh, admits the thought of playing a real game Sunday inside the comfy confines of Heinz Field has him a bit stirred up.

“Some of the guys are coming out to the game,” McCoy said Friday, referring to former teammates and friends who’d like to take in the Eagles-Steelers game (Sunday, 1 p.m.). “A lot of old friends and family, too. I’m excited to go back.”

That said, the elite running back who had a breakout half-a-game (123 rushing yards, 121 of them in the second half) in a 19-17 win last Sunday against the New York Giants knows he has to keep the local vibes under wraps when he visits the stadium where some of his best collegiate football days were spent.

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“I can’t get too wrapped up in the individual thing; like, ‘I want to go there and see my old friends, play in my old stadium,’” McCoy said. “I’m definitely going there for one thing — getting a W. Getting that win.”

That said, McCoy says he has, “so many good memories there, it’s hard to choose one.

“We always had so many wins out of there,” McCoy said with a gleam in his eye, remembering a couple of superb seasons at Pitt in 2007 and ‘08, including a pair of victories over arch-rival West Virginia.

His best memory: “Probably the West Virginia rivalry,” said McCoy, who rushed for a career-best 183 yards and a pair of scores in the 19-15 win over the Mountaineers in 2008. “That’s always been a big deal.”

Just because he’s a premier back in the NFL now — McCoy is third in the league with 384 yards rushing — it doesn’t mean he thinks too highly of himself.

Actually, in this fourth NFL season, McCoy has levied much of the credit for his success on little known Eagles starting fullback Stanley Havili, last year’s seventh-round draft pick and practice squad mainstay.

His sophomore season is going a little better than that. Just ask McCoy.

“Stan, to be honest with you, last year he didn’t get a chance to play. This year, he’s blowing people up,” McCoy said. “I don’t know if you guys noticed or not, but he’s opening holes up, and his energy – the will to want to block, the will to want to blow guys up and be successful to win games — he’s having an excellent season. He should definitely get a chance to go to the Pro Bowl for sure. I mean that.”

Well ... high praise indeed?

“Nah,” the soft-spoken Havili said of McCoy. “He’s just talkin’.”

But there’s no questioning McCoy’s seriousness when he talks about his fondness for the Steelers.

You know, in a competitive way.

“They don’t talk too much trash,” McCoy noted.

He talked of knowing Steelers coach Mike Tomlin “very well, and a lot of the defensive players, too. ... (Troy) Polamalu plays as hard as he can and won’t say a word. We’re just looking to go out there and have a good game.”

He talked of playing Pitt home games in the stadium, and sharing the training facilities with the Steelers during football season.

“When we were at Pitt, we used to watch games at Santonio Holmes’ house,” McCoy said of the veteran receiver, now with the Jets but out for the season with an injury. “It was kind of weird. He trusted us to be in his house when nobody’s there.”